IDEAS Boston Speaker Jennifer Fremont-Smith is one of the nominees for BostInno’s 50 on Fire, a list of individuals and institutions that keep the flames of knowledge burning bright. (The winners will be announced in December.)

Fremont-Smith is the cofounder and COO of Smarterer, a platform designed to test and score digital and technical skills. She’s also the cofounder of Krash, a network of shared living spaces, called KrashPads, where residents immerse themselves in the culture of entrepreneurship and innovation by co-housing with like-minded people for connections, mentorship, and fun.

The daylong IDEAS Boston 2013 conference is Wednesday, October 30 at the UMass Boston Campus Center.

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, one of the country’s largest foundations, has named astrophysicist and 2008 IDEAS Boston speaker Sara Seager one of its 2013 MacArthur fellows. The MacArthur Fellows Program awards unrestricted $625,000 fellowships to individuals who have shown extraordinary originality and dedication in their creative pursuits.

Seager is spearheading advanced hardware design and space mission projects, including ExoplanetSat, a university collaboration to build low-cost “nano-satellites” to observe planetary transits.

Actress Jennifer Aniston has become an investor and spokesperson for one of Robert Langer‘s projects. The MIT biomedical engineer and 2004 IDEAS Boston speaker has been collaborating with other scientists and venture capitalists on a scientifically-researched line of hair care products called Living Proof.

The Greater Boston Food Bank honored chef and 2011 IDEAS Boston speaker Jody Adams at its third annual Women Fighting Hunger breakfast on September 11. Adams, the owner/chef at Rialto and Trade, was honored for her support of the GBFB’s efforts.

Neuroscientist, author, and 2009 IDEAS Boston speaker Lisa Genova‘s new book, Love Anthony, is about about a mother dealing with the death of her autistic son. Listen to he talk about the book, and how her book Still Alice is being turned into a film and play, in this interview with NPR.